I.Introduction- The
Chairman thanked everyone who devoted time to this meeting despite
distractions.He then asked everyone to
introduce themselves.The Chair raised
the issue of whether this committee should meet more frequently or were
telephone conferences sufficient to keep up with the workload.Jim Gacioch, a former chairman of this
committee, stated that when he attempted to call more meetings, he lost attendance.His opinion was that telephone conferences
have worked and we should continue with them.Sharon stated that telephone conferences work when the agenda is small.The chairman concluded that the consensus of
the committee was that people are happy with the frequency of the meetings so
they will not be increased.

II.Brief Review of CPLR
Measures Passed by Legislature during the 2000-2001 Session

2.Commencement of Special Proceedings- S00077 / A01437.This has passed both houses.

3.Admissibility of graphical and pictorial representations of
medical or diagnostic tests- S03485 / A07344.This passed both houses although our committee originally opposed
it. The Chair stated that upon a
reconsideration,
the Committee should not issue its report disapproving the bill.
The Chair proposed further comment among the Committee via the e-mail list.
Ron Kennedy advised the Chair that the bill may have already been submitted for
signature, in which event comment will be too late.

4.Remedial Legislation Affecting Arbitration Awards- S04341 /
A07755.Paul Aloe stated that this was
a good bill when proposed by the OCA.Since then, the Court of Appeals has ruled that the amendment to the law
was remedial and therefore there may not be need for this legislation anymore.
However, the bill does no harm and has passed both houses of the legislature.

5.Trial Subpoena Procedure- S03484 / A08723. It was agreed that
the bill does not merit further comment.The bill has passed both houses of the legislature.

III.Affirmative Legislation
Proposals-

1.Revised Proposal to Amend CPLR 3216.Mike Schmidt reported on his revised version of the bill. He
added in subdivision (b) a provision that the neglect to proceed must be
unreasonable.He also added in
subdivision (c) (3) that before the motion could be made, an attempt must have
been made to confer in good faith in person over the telephone in an attempt to
resolve the dispute.

After much discussion,
the following amendments were accepted –

Subdivision (a) – “or
render judgment” was removed from the next to the last sentence.

Subdivision (b)(ii)-
amended to read “an identification of the last activity by the party against
whom the dismissal is sought has occurred prior to. ..

Subdivision (c) (2)-
amended to read – Nine months must have elapsed since the last activity by
the party against whom the dismissal is sought constituting the basis
for. . .

Subdivision (c)(3)- was
rewritten to state- A good faith attempt to reactivate the case must have
been made in writing at least 60 days prior to bringing of the motion.

MOTION-
SHOULD THIS PROPOSAL BE ACCEPTED AS AMENDED

The
motion passed Yes-11, No-1 and Abstentions- 2.

2.Proposals on Pretrial orders and court conferences- Sharon
reported that the Executive Committee of the State Bar Association voted it
down.They felt that allowing the trial
judge to set a trial date at the beginning of the case could lead to abuse. The
court might consider the date etched in stone and might make you beg for an
adjournment.This is already happening
in some upstate counties.They also did
not like the idea of law secretaries presiding over the conferences and having
to go back to the court for late filings of the note of issue.They also stated that there are too many
conferences and did not like the idea of listing what the court can do during a
conference.

Maurice Chayt moved to
remove subdivision (b)(12) of the proposal which provides that a judge at a
conference can direct that the action be tried on a date certain.

MOTION-
SHOULD SUBDIVISION (b)(12) BE ELIMINATED

The
motion passed Yes-11, No-1, Abstention- 1

It
was finally agreed that the proposal will be revised by Paul Aloe to meet some
of the objections of the Executive Committee.

IV.Old Business

1.S04293/ A07073- Amending CPLR 7502- This bill was not passed
by the legislature.

V.New Business

1. Written letters of engagement.This is an OCA proposal.Steve asked the committee to e-mail their
comments on this to him.

A motion to
adjourn the meeting was made and seconded. The meeting adjourned at 4:00 p.m.